10 Ways to Teach Kids to Manage Their Money

Being able to handle money wisely is the greatest gift you can give your kids.  Struggling with money is stressful and unnecessary if you create the foundation for smart spending and saving.  Here are 10 ways to teach kids how to manage their money and to help instill your money values in them.

1. Pay yourself first.  Decide with your child what percentage of the money he earns or receives that he will get to just spend however he wants.  Be it on candy, bubble gum machines, or toys.  It’s important that he have some money that he feels like he can spend however he chooses.  You can set the rules as to how and when he can spend it, but make sure that he does have some money for fun stuff.
2. Create jars and label where the money is to go.  Take some mason jars or recycled jars and label them with the different places that the money is going to go.  Have jars marked, “Fun Money”, “Long term Savings”, “Short term Savings” and “Charity”.  Feel free to change the names around to fit your goals.  Long-term savings could actually say, “College Fund” and the short-term savings could say, “Cell phone”.  Things like this will allow you and your child to personalize your savings system.  Once you hit a certain amount in your jar you can move it to a bank account.
3. Help your child choose a charity in which to donate.  Giving back to the world is an important lesson that kids need to learn from a young age.  In your case maybe you would like your child to give money to your church in addition to or instead of a charity.  Maybe your kids love animals and would like to donate money to the Humane Society.
4. Set a savings goal for big ticket items.  If your child is constantly asking for a large toy or electronic encourage him to start saving for it.  Print out a small thermometer chart and help him fill in the thermometer as he puts money in the jar.  It will increase the excitement if he feels like he is getting closer to his goal.  You could offer up some extra chores where he could earn some extra money.  You’ll be amazed at how ambitious kids can be if they have the proper motivation.
5. Make sure they have long-term savings.  Talk to your child about going to college or buying their first car.  These items are very expensive and have to be saved for.  Determine what you think the fair amount would be to put into the long term savings jar.  Is it 10 or 20%?
6. Open a savings account for your child.  Take your child to the bank or credit union and help her open her first savings account.  There are online options as well that will allow you to add money to her account electronically so the money is never actually in her hand.  This option is available and you will have to decide whether it’s the right option for you and your child or not.  When opening a savings account you can explain about interest.  Let her know that the bank will pay her for letting them use her money.
7. Help your children realize the difference between a need and a want.  This is an important discussion to have with your kids.  You will hear your kids tell you that they NEED to have the latest jeans or cell phone, but those are wants and not needs.  Help your kids see the difference and then when they come to you and say that they have to have something you can ask if it’s a need or a want.  Wants aren’t a bad thing, but needs should be taken care of first.  For example, he ‘needs’ to put money into savings for his future more than he ‘wants’ to get the latest video game.
8. Create a filing system to keep track of receipts.  Getting your child used to tracking their money is an important habit to get them into.  When they buy something with their money they need to come home and write down the purchase in their spending journal and then put the receipt into a file.  Determine how many files or envelopes you will need.  One way to do it is to create an envelope for each month and then have a big envelope to keep all of the smaller envelopes in.  This method may work better if you have multiple children tracking their spending.  Another way would be to keep the monthly envelopes in a file marked with their name.
9. Demonstrate money saving techniques.  Kids usually go to the grocery store with mom or dad and that is their first experience watching mom spend money.  Show the kids how coupons work and in store discounts.  Explain various tricks you use to save money while grocery shopping.  You may think that your kids won’t need this information for years to come, but it’s important that kids are aware that mom saves money where she can too.
10. Set a good example when it comes to money values.  Keeping your own spending journal and receipt file will set a good example for your kids.  Let your kids know that you are saving for a big item or vacation.  Kids learn by example and it’s easier for them to learn when they know what you are doing.  It’s not so important that your kids know every detail and concern that you have about money, but impress upon them the important stuff.

P.S. This post was  proposed to me for publication by Paul Taylor,  I'm therefore publishing it by his invitation and under his permission. See also the link below fore more information:
 http://www.babysittingjobs.com/blog/10-ways-to-teach-kids-to-manage-their-money/

Nepro Mailliw

Who was he? The answer leads to a real spy-story, set in the First World War.
First of all the portrait: it was believed to be a fake, until the experts, arguing from its signature, which is the exact anagram of Orpen William, the Irish artist who realized the original one, hung in a major national museum.
Now the portrait has been valued £ 250,000, more than the house where it has been hanging for the past decades.
In the next days all the truth will be said over the astonishing story.

To know more:
By Paul Sims link below on the DM on line

Sometimes it pays to take a second look at a work of art.
When this 'copy' of a painting by wartime artist Sir William Orpen was first taken to the Antiques Roadshow, it was judged to be nothing special.
After experts from the long-running BBC programme did further research, however, they were astonished to find it was an original - and it was valued at an incredible £250,000.
The real deal: The owner of an original Sir William Orpen painting was shocked to discover it is worth £250,000

Irish portrait painter William Orpen created his artwork The Spy - of his mistress Yvonne Aubicque - as an escape from the daily trials of covering WWI.
The name of the painting aroused suspicions of the censor, Lieutenant-Colonel Lee, according to expert Rupert Maas.

'The idea of a spy was extremely tricky because the English spy Edith Cavell had just been executed and Mata Hari had also been executed,' Mr Maas said.

'Orpen was summoned back to London to explain himself and he tried to bluff it by creating a story. He said that the woman was a German spy who was to be shot by the French and he had been allowed just an hour to paint her.

'He said that she had been given the greatcoat to wear by one of the guards and she was hoping that when she took it off her simple beauty would astonish the firing squad and they wouldn't be able to pull the trigger.

Orpen then came clean and admitted the painting was of his lover. He was facing a court martial, but charmed Lft Col Lee with the help of Lord Beaverbrook. The painting was renamed The Refugee.

In a further twist, Ms Aubicque became involved with Orpen's chauffeur after the artist left France - and the pair both spied for Britain during WWII.

Grover-Williams was caught and shot and Yvonne returned to Britain, where she became a judge at dog show Crufts.
This not only made it worth more than the owner's house, but also the most valuable artwork ever to appear on the show.

The incredible story behind the painting will be revealed to viewers tomorrow.
The owner, who after learning the value of the painting now wishes to remain anonymous, was left 'completely gobsmacked' after discovering the truth about his heirloom.

Antiques Roadshow's Rupert Maas said: 'His uncle bought the painting because he loved it and the owner kept it and hung it in his home all these years because he loved it.
'Both men had no idea it was by Orpen himself and the current owner was staggered that is was worth so much money. He is a modest man of modest means,' Mr Maas added.

The man had inherited the picture, of Yvonne Aubicque, Sir William's beautiful young mistress, and hung it in his living room before taking it to a recording of the programme in Greenwich.
Orpen - an official war artist - was in France recording the horrors of the First World War trenches when he found time to paint his lover - the daughter of the Mayor of Lille.

His work shows the attractive young lady with red cheeks wearing an Army greatcoat.

The artist was threatened with court martial when his superiors learned he had taken time out for the private portrait, but he escaped punishment after the intervention of his friend Lord Beaverbrook.
As a thank you, Orpen painted a near-identical version of the portrait in 1920 and gave it to the aristocrat.
It was later bought by the current owner's uncle. The original is in the Imperial War Museum.

Mr Maas said he found references to the copy in a letter from Orpen to Lord Beaverbrook.


An inscription on the picture reads 'copy by person unknown' but Mr Maas suspected the painting was by Orpen after discovering his trademark signature Nepro Mailliw - his name spelled backwards - had been inscribed on the work.

Mr Maas said the second version was warmer and perhaps more desirable' than the original.
'It makes you wonder just how many people there are out there sitting on national treasures like this.'
The story behind the painting will be told on Sunday's episode of Antiques Roadshow ."

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1274294/Owner-fake-painting-gobsmacked-sets-Antiques-Roadshow-record-250-000.html#ixzz0nJfIHDzx

Pittsburgh beats London 1-0

It seems true that the copy of Francesco Francia's Virgin and Child with Angel, held by London's National Gallery it's only a 19th's century fake made by an anonymous while the original renaissance's masterpiece is shown at Pittsburgh's Carnegie Museum.

How many fakes are still shown in the major museums of the world?

To know more read on DM on line by Dalya Alberge

The National Gallery has discovered an impostor among its great Old Master pictures, a 19th-century forgery of a 15th-century painting.
The Virgin and Child with an Angel has been a highly-prized painting by the Renaissance artist Francesco Francia since it was acquired as a gift almost 100 years ago. It was thought to have been painted around 1490.
Now it has been unmasked as a fake, painted as recently as the second half of the 19th century. It is a dramatic occurrence for a national collection to find a forgery.
The Virgin and Child with an Angel was thought to be painted around 1490. Now it is thought to have been painted in the second half of the 19th century
Experts at the gallery found the damning evidence recently when they used routine scientific tests to look through the painting’s layers for the first time.
Scientific analysis exposed the deception, revealing that the forger used pigments that were not available before the 19th century and coated the top layer with a natural resin to simulate the appearance of age.
To their astonishment, they discovered a preliminary drawing beneath the painting drawn with a graphite pencil - an implement that did not exist at that time.
'This proved the painting could not be an authentic Francesco Francia,' says Betsy Wieseman of the gallery.


The style of the under-drawing was 19th-century rather than 16th, she adds, pointing out that the forger also simulated the natural pattern of cracks that develop in old paintings.
If not for the scientific tests, the forgery would not have been uncovered. 'It is a lovely, very attractive painting otherwise', Ms Wieseman says.
The oil-on-wood painting, which measures 58.5 by 44.5 cm, was described as a Francia when it was bought by the collector Ludwig Mond in 1893.
In 1924, his £500m-collection of Renaissance masterpieces, including Raphael, Titian and this 'Francia', was left to the nation.
The Francia Virgin took pride of place in the National Gallery until 1954 when another version, now in the Carnegie Museum in Pittsburgh , surfaced.

Its quality was superior, but experts still believed that the National Gallery’s painting was a Francia.
The gallery now realises that its version is a precise copy of the Pittsburgh one.
Francia was an important artist in his day, but he has since been overshadowed by his Renaissance contemporaries. The National Gallery has four other genuine works by him.
The Gallery’s Renaissance expert Luke Syson says: 'Francia is no longer prized to quite the same degree as he was in the middle of the 19th century, when this fake was made.

'Yet as an artist, Francia remains very important because he was both a painter and a goldsmith.
'Before it was discovered to be a fake, The Virgin and Child was highly prized by art historians, particularly because the chalice held by the angel appeared to provide a very rare example of Francia’s work as a goldsmith.'
Asked whether they fear they may discover more fakes, the Gallery says it is unlikely.
The fake will have one last outing in a gallery show before being disgraced to a storeroom. It will be included in the National Gallery’s major exhibition Fakes,